This piece was very interesting to read. Not only did it explore the faults in the American Education system, it pointed out a few flaws in those who receive it- the students. the most shocking thing for me was the part about the children at the group program who were basically cheating the system. These children found a way to do what seems to be the least amount of work possible, but still have the teacher convinced that they all did the reading. They focused not on what they were asked to read, but on what they were asked to do. To them, reading the first page and coming up with questions was adequate, they completed what the teacher asked of them without finishing one part of the assignment. However, the amount of work that each of the kids most go through in order to check their questions with their peers and make sure none of them have too similar a question must equate to, or be less than, the work they would actually have to do. This anecdote tells the public that the children receiving these educations are smart enough to out wit the teacher and excel by just barely doing the assignments. I hope that every educator in the world sees this anecdote so that they know that they are being cheated.
I think a big problem with the American Education system, especially in lower grades, is that students train the teachers to spoon feed them information. They constantly request study guides, reviews, and live by the limits- if the syllabus says a 2-3 page paper, the paper will be between 2-3 pages (but most likely 2 or 2.5). Who says you can’t go over? What if you have more to say? Teachers are limiting the students potential and I think that is why the students feel like they don’t really need to care. They say, oh well, Ms. So-and-so is going to give me a passing grade no matter what I do because she doesn’t want me to fail. I’ve seen it in my school, I’ve heard about it in others, it’s babying the students and it happens even in the high school level. The amount of spoon feeding and babying in schools is ridiculous. If you want an A, work for it. To me, an A says you went above and beyond what was asked of you. If your paper was supposed to be 2-3 pages, you wrote 3.5 because you were exploring a new idea. If you didn’t care and didn’t do the assignment, sorry, but you are going to get a failing grade. Teachers are known for passing students because they don’t want the students to look bad, and they don’t want to have themselves looking like bad teachers because they have a failing student. Educators need to man up. If a student receives a failing grade, it is because it is what they earned. You, as an educator, have given them multiple opportunities to succeed (homework, quizzes, tests, projects, papers) and these failing students have opted to either not complete them or scribble something down and hand it in and hope for partial credit for even doing it. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have a student who is studying hours on end so that they can earn that A or B grade. So why should a student who doesn’t care at all, be given the same treatment of a student who is putting 110% into each assignment? And teachers can’t pick and choose and say “well oh, I want to work with the kids who are failing maybe get their grades up” or opt to push the A and B students to excel even further. The teachers know that that is favoritism, and the students see it and talk about it. I think educators care too much about their reputation. Instead of worrying about how your boss sees you, worry about how your students see you and how you see yourself. I know that when I am an educator, students will receive what they earn, no matter what. Pumping out A’s and B’s for the sake of looking good isn’t going to pay off for anyone in the long run.
This piece was very interesting to read. Not only did it explore the faults in the American Education system, it pointed out a few flaws in those who receive it- the students. the most shocking thing for me was the part about the children at the group program who were basically cheating the system. These children found a way to do what seems to be the least amount of work possible, but still have the teacher convinced that they all did the reading. They focused not on what they were asked to read, but on what they were asked to do. To them, reading the first page and coming up with questions was adequate, they completed what the teacher asked of them without finishing one part of the assignment. However, the amount of work that each of the kids most go through in order to check their questions with their peers and make sure none of them have too similar a question must equate to, or be less than, the work they would actually have to do. This anecdote tells the public that the children receiving these educations are smart enough to out wit the teacher and excel by just barely doing the assignments. I hope that every educator in the world sees this anecdote so that they know that they are being cheated.
I think a big problem with the American Education system, especially in lower grades, is that students train the teachers to spoon feed them information. They constantly request study guides, reviews, and live by the limits- if the syllabus says a 2-3 page paper, the paper will be between 2-3 pages (but most likely 2 or 2.5). Who says you can’t go over? What if you have more to say? Teachers are limiting the students potential and I think that is why the students feel like they don’t really need to care. They say, oh well, Ms. So-and-so is going to give me a passing grade no matter what I do because she doesn’t want me to fail. I’ve seen it in my school, I’ve heard about it in others, it’s babying the students and it happens even in the high school level. The amount of spoon feeding and babying in schools is ridiculous. If you want an A, work for it. To me, an A says you went above and beyond what was asked of you. If your paper was supposed to be 2-3 pages, you wrote 3.5 because you were exploring a new idea. If you didn’t care and didn’t do the assignment, sorry, but you are going to get a failing grade. Teachers are known for passing students because they don’t want the students to look bad, and they don’t want to have themselves looking like bad teachers because they have a failing student. Educators need to man up. If a student receives a failing grade, it is because it is what they earned. You, as an educator, have given them multiple opportunities to succeed (homework, quizzes, tests, projects, papers) and these failing students have opted to either not complete them or scribble something down and hand it in and hope for partial credit for even doing it. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have a student who is studying hours on end so that they can earn that A or B grade. So why should a student who doesn’t care at all, be given the same treatment of a student who is putting 110% into each assignment? And teachers can’t pick and choose and say “well oh, I want to work with the kids who are failing maybe get their grades up” or opt to push the A and B students to excel even further. The teachers know that that is favoritism, and the students see it and talk about it. I think educators care too much about their reputation. Instead of worrying about how your boss sees you, worry about how your students see you and how you see yourself. I know that when I am an educator, students will receive what they earn, no matter what. Pumping out A’s and B’s for the sake of looking good isn’t going to pay off for anyone in the long run.